Garrett Fenchel and Elizabeth Ruwe with Cooperative for Education (CoEd) spoke to the Wilmington Rotary Club which meets at noon about the Guatemala Literacy Program.
The mission of the Literacy Program is to help Guatemalan schoolchildren break the cycle of poverty through education. CoEd accomplishes this mission by implementing sustainable textbook, computer, reading, and scholarship programs in impoverished schools. Through these programs, CoEd strives to address the root causes of poverty in Guatemala, rather than merely treating its symptoms.
The ultimate goal of CoEd is to develop people. They see their purpose as helping each and every person discover their value and the gifts that they uniquely bring to the world. CoEd helps them develop those gifts, not solely for their own benefit and success, but for the greater good. CoEd imagines a future in which every Guatemalan child stays in school, receives a high-quality primary and secondary school education; has access to higher levels of education and better jobs; finds permanent pathways out of poverty; and achieves their potential and gives back to the world.
CoEd’s key programs are:
• Textbooks – CoEd purchases the books in Guatemala and rents them to the students.
• Computer Center – the centers are located in middle schools throughout Guatemala and provide state-of-the-art technology to students. CoEd purchases the technology locally and students rent the computer time.
• Literacy Training – teaching teachers how to teach literacy
• Scholarship – CoEd strives to provide scholarships at the middle school and high school levels. The upper grades are when schools fees are required to continue education. CoEd has noted that graduates educate their own children to the same level or higher as their own education.
